HIV testing represents one of the most potent weapons in the fight against HIV. Yet too many individuals who may be at risk of infection continue to avoid testing. This reluctance to test is driven in part by the pervasiveness of HIV stigma.

Amanda K. was six months pregnant and went into early labor with a prolapsed umbilical cord. She went to a local hospital for care where she underwent emergency surgery, but unfortunately her son soon died. But, rather than providing the support and compassionate care she and her family needed, the hospital drug tested her. The positive result was used as a basis for reporting her to the police and having her arrested for the crime of “chemical endangerment” of a child.

With Congress deadlocked on health reform, some state legislators are working to make it more difficult for women to access health care and much easier for states to put them, and the people who help them, in jail.